Andy Murray stood in the eye of Hurricane Chaos at the US Open last night, an unlikely but determined revolutionary. As he eased into the quarter-finals, where he will play John Isner, navigating the tail-end of a crowded fixtures backlog that could have been avoided with better planning, tournament organisers bowed to the demands of the players and moved the men's final back a day to Monday.

The remaining quarter finals – Murray-Isner and Rafael Nadal against Andy Roddick – will be played on Friday, with the semi-finals on Saturday and Sunday a rest day for the men, before the final.

The women's semi-finals originally scheduled for Friday will be played on Saturday, with the final on Sunday afternoon.

It was a compromise on the hoof and not one the United States Tennis Association would have embraced without much discussion. Or, as the tournament director, Jim Curley, saw it, it was "the result of a collaborative effort with the players, CBS Sports and tournament officials". This will be the fourth Monday final in a row, the past three the result of rain and wretched scheduling.

A short while after beating Donald Young 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to avenge the American's win over him at Indian Wells in March Murray called for the formation of a players' union. "The players need to have more of a voice," the politically aware Scot said, "and the only way to do that is by starting a players' union and coming to an agreement with tournaments and the International Tennis Federation. If not, nothing will change."

It was an historic climbdown by the USTA, one inspired by an angry defending champion, Nadal, who led Murray and Roddick in a three-man revolt on Wednesday, the second day of heavy rain, when asked to play on dangerously sodden courts. The USTA was slow to respond, defending its controversial policy not to cover the courts and insisting, too, that a roof over the main court, Arthur Ashe, was too expensive and technologically difficult.

There has been simmering anger, also, at its spreading the first-round matches over the first three days, then cramming the semi-finals and final into the last weekend – plainly to suit the television demands of CBS, the host broadcaster.

This year the Open has been beset by the residue of an earthquake in the days before the tournament, then remnants of a significant hurricane as the event was due to start. When more rain wiped out Wednesday's schedule, they knew they had to quell what had become considerable disquiet in the locker room, as well as frustration among the paying public.

That concern was heightened on Thursday when they had to move Roddick's fourth-round match against David Ferrer from the Louis Armstrong Stadium to Court 13 after morning sun had squeezed water from an overnight torrent up through the warped surface. Before the surprise announcement Murray said a union was essential to protect the players' safety and financial rights.

"We have the Association of Tennis Professionals (who organise the rest of the non-slam Tour) and the ITF, and they don't like each other very much," Murray said. "There's always going to be issues with Davis Cup, the schedule, the Grand Slams, and things like what happened on Wednesday.

"At ATP tournaments we have an ATP tour manager … looking out for the players. Here we have an ATP tour manager who was in the locker room with us beforehand [on Wednesday], and he was saying, 'It's still raining out there, guys. You shouldn't go out there and play.' The referees here, it's the ITF. They want us to go out on the court."

On court Murray's calm was in contrast to the turmoil enveloping the tournament. If he is to go further in this event, one drenched in rain and rancour, he might have to find a little more consistency than he showed in beating Young but, strategically, he is perfectly placed.

A running forehand at 30-15 in the third set was a snapshot of Murray at his quintessential best, full of confidence, balanced in the shot and not tied down by anxiety. He raced 12 metres to get it on the deuce side then whipped it up inches from the ground, skimming the net to find the skinniest of corridors as Young raced in vain to close down the gap at the net.

It was an all-or-nothing strategy that induced Young to make 53 unforced errors. When Murray finished the job with his fifth ace, he looked as happy as anyone in Queens. Murray is not fazed about playing the 6ft 9in Isner, who serves like the wind and is just as erratic. Isner beat Gilles Simon 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6.

On the same side of the draw as Murray and ready for a semi-final against his old friend and rival, Nadal came back from a 3-0 deficit overnight, to beat Gilles Muller 7-6, 6-1, 6-2 in two hours eight minutes.

Janko Tipsarevic became the 15th retirement casualty of the tournament when a thigh injury forced him to quit against his Serbian compatriot and world No 1 Novak Djokovic, who led 7-6, 6-7, 6-0, 3-0.